Motorsport: Impressive Stanaway has more speed in him

Richie Stanaway's Tickford Racing Ford design. Photo / Supercars

Rookie Supercars driver Richie Stanaway impressed in his first fulltime day driving in the category.

The New Zealander posted the 15th fastest time in qualifying but was left frustrated as he felt he had more speed than that.

"It was a bit frustrating to be honest," he said. "There's a lot more in the car and myself to be honest; we were only half a second off [fastest time].

"I couldn't put it all together so I'm a bit disappointed to not get inside the top 10. It's not too bad though, we can race from there."

Stanaway produced impressive performances over the past two years as a co-driver in the Pirtek Endurance Cup earning himself a fulltime drive with the re-branded Tickford Racing Ford outfit.

He has had limited time in the car and has the major disadvantage of not being familiar with most of the tracks he visits this year.

"I'm the only guy in the field who hasn't driven here before so it's a bit of a tall order but we'll give it a go tomorrow," he said.

"I'm glad I got through the day without doing anything stupid and we do have reasonable pace."